Community
Community Connections
Job Path’s Community Connections is an alternative to group-oriented day programs. We help people forge strong connections as they volunteer, work out at the gym, take art or computer classes–or go to college. The Community Connections “day program” happens in the evening and on weekends as well.
Working with a direct support professional, each person has a weekly schedule that reflects their specific interests. For example, Amanda belongs to a community pottery studio, participates in water aerobics and volunteers at a local animal shelter. An artist, she also enjoys knitting, gardening and going to museums.
The health and safety of everyone in Job Path’s programs is our utmost priority. Click here to view our Day Program’s COVID-19 Safety Plan. You can also view our policy on Resuming Day Habilitation Supports.
Amanda working at her loom.
Amanda’s Weekly Schedule
Jon took part in WonderSpark Puppets, a six-week residency which offers artists one-to-one coaching in the art of puppetry for TV and film.
Watch clip explaining the weekly schedules of siblings Osvaldo and Noemi Urena.
Working it out
Many people in this program have also elected to find paid jobs through Job Path’s employment programs and have a weekly schedule that combines work and activities through Community Connections.
At Dawning Village Child Care in East Harlem, Reuben leads three classes with two to four year olds, singing in both English and Spanish. He took classes at the Lighthouse Guild for the Blind in keyboard skills and children’s music education.
Keith, a bass guitarist, works one day a week at Generation Records and is a regular at 360 Records in Red Hook where he tunes bass guitars.
A gifted artist, Paris takes part in Community Connections’ Art Group. (See her art below) Paris loves fashion, the color pink and perfume. Our employment team helped her get her first paying job at Victoria’s Secret in Times Square where she works two days a week.
About a dozen students have earned bachelor’s degrees and/or associate degrees and others are in the process of completing their studies.
People participate in and enjoy a wide variety of activities that interest them. In addition, Job Path offers ongoing workshops including: art, basketball, dance, theater, writing, New Path, women’s group, cooking, and Spanish — and there are more on the drawing board.
The Art Group, formed in 2010, is a collective of creative individuals of all disciplines and backgrounds. Meeting weekly, the artists have had several group showings including THE EXHIBITION: GROUP ART, a salon style show at Brooklyn Fire Proof.
The Social Understanding Group
The Social Understanding Group has been meeting for years. Members describe the group: We all hit a spot on the autism spectrum. We talk about our lives, our jobs, our college courses, our families and our friends. We laugh a lot. Sometimes we head out to museums or to hear live music, or to sing Karaoke, or to do yoga in the park. We empathize, argue, comfort and debate, teach and learn.
Outside Voices Theater Company
Outside Voices Theater Company (OVTC), was created by long-time Job Path consultant Cathy James in 2011. It started small: just a couple of people in a side room in a church. Ten years later, OVTC has evolved into a full-fledged company of about 15 actors based in a beautiful Harlem art space. The company is now sought out by established organizations and agencies to make training and educational films about disabilities – often written and created by OVTC actors. Even the pandemic couldn’t stop OVTC, which still meets weekly to write and perform.
“It has been astonishing to see how much confidence develops in the room as people own their tremendous power and talent.” – Cathy James
“At Outside Voices I can be very creative with my work and be myself. I can express my emotions and nobody judges me.” – Maria Zulic, OVTC member
Click here to watch a clip from OVTC’s play What if I Were Whole?, which had three sold-out performances in downtown Manhattan.
Outside Voices Theater Company wishes you to know: We are about advocacy, empowerment, out-of-the-box thinking and disability pride. We chose our name because we believe that VOICES from OUTSIDE deserve to be heard. We believe in access. We will not use our quiet, inside voices to get your attention.